Video of police dog hitting dog; Fayetteville Police Department releases statement, confirming internal investigation

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) – A video that appears to show a Fayetteville police sniffer dog beating his dog is causing outrage in the city.

It happened at the Walgreens store on the corner of Village Drive and Owen Drive. The video appears to show an unnamed Fayetteville Police sniffer dog hitting his sniffer dog several times. It remains unclear what happened before the video began.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Shirley Meskill of Fayetteville. “You don’t do that to animals. I don’t think you do to animals or other people that you wouldn’t want to do to yourself.”

“I mean, if he can’t handle a dog, how is he supposed to handle people? It’s just unfortunate,” said Deloris Tolbert of Fayetteville.

“I think it’s terrible,” said Roy Haddock of Fayetteville. “It shouldn’t be tolerated. It’s not acceptable. It’s not.”

Fayetteville police issued a statement saying they were aware of the video making the rounds online. Police said they are taking public concerns seriously and that the incident is being investigated by the internal affairs division.

“I mean, it’s on video what he did,” Meskill said. “How long will it take before there’s an investigation? It always seems like it gets put off, put off, until it just disappears…”

ABC11 contacted the police department for further comment after the release of its statement, asking what events preceded the incident involving the officer and his sniffer dog. ABC11 also asked if the officer will be punished for this, but the department declined to provide further details.

The officer in the video has not yet been identified and ABC11 has not been able to reach him at this time.